L: probably the best looking beer I've ever seen, beautifully dark with a nice creamy head and nice bubbles
S:smells like an ipa with a hint of chocolate
T: a unique blend of 2 of my favorite beers, an ipa with a slight chocolate and maybe a hind of almond flavors. It has a strong hoppiness with noticeable citrus notes. A power fullbodied flavor of hops citrus and chocolate, possibly my favorite beer I've ever had
F:leaves a nice hoops flavor on your mouth that leave you asking for more
O: poured into a glass from a 1 pint 6 fl Oz single serve big boy bottle. Was excited to try this and it way exceeded my expectations a top notch brew.

A- Pours a 99% opaque black color with a 1/2 inch dark tan head that retains well before becoming a thick ring around the edge of the glass and a half sheet of surface foam. Drippy, semi-resilient lacing.

S- Hops, booze and dark roasted malt. The hops are grassy and the booze plays off the malt sweetness to create a brown sugar/caramel quality.

T- All the elements come together in a big wave of semi-astringent aggression where it's all happening so fast you can't pin down which tastes are which. There's some coffee that's cut off by the hop bitterness that's interrupted by the sweetness from the malt that's abruptly diverted by the alcohol. All this chaos comes to an end once the palate acclimates and everything starts to make sense. The hop flavors start to work in harmony with the coffee and char notes that once seemed to be random. The booze bite goes away and the sweetness acts as a mediator between everything else to present the profile's complexity as a whole. Remarkable.

M- Somewhat creamy and quite viscous with a bit of a tingle from the hops and medium carbonation. Fullish body.

O- Though I feel like this beer is better realized and a bit smoother on draft, the bottled version certainly does it justice. An unforgiving Black IPA that is the prototype for all other Black IPAs.

Overall (4.25): Id rather have an IPA or a stout, but as far as Black IPAs go, this has to be one of the benchmarks. My favorite in the style so far. One part hops and one part roasted malts. Good stuff!

Taste: Roasted, almost smoky malt leads to well brewed coffee flavors that mix nicely with a heavy sigh of citrus, earth, and pine. Almost reminiscent of a rauchbier, as the smoky flavors give way to some uniquely savory tastes. 19/20

Mouthfeel: Medium body leads the way to a dry finish, thanks to a medium dose of carbonation. Slight chewiness brings additional depth to the flavor, while typical IPA bitterness reminds us that the beer is ultimately "true to style." 5/5

Overall: A unique, delicious, well-crafted IPA that balances black smokiness with bright hops. There definitely exists the notion that by calling upon unquestionable expertise, this beer achieves the nearly unthinkable. Absolutely incredible. 9/10

Black IPAs are one of my favorite beer creations. The creativity of balancing roasted malty goodness and hops that complement these flavor produces amazing beers. Stone's Black IPA is a great example of a complex amazing beer. The taste is well balanced of malt sweetness and hop bitterness with an acidic middle taste of mild balsamic vinegar.

M - Full bodied with medium-low carbonation. Easy drinking for the high abv.

O - I expected a lot more roasted malt and bitterness considering the style, but it was a great beer nonetheless. I'm thinking that the bottle I had was past its prime as far as intense hoppiness, but for some reason a lot of great hop flavors stuck around. Flavor profile reminded me of Terry's Chocolate Orange.

Pours black with some deep amber highlights. One inch head that clings to the glass quite well. Definite hop presence in the aroma, slight citrus, and roasted coffee. Taste has a pretty strong vanilla component blending nicely with pine and citrus hop. Great black IPA, its nice to see this style picking up some momentum!

very tasty. Hoppy front with strong backbone. Great Balance. No overt alcohol taste even tho it's 8.70 ABV. Came in a very reasonably priced variety case way here on the east coast. Happy with this one

I am not an IPA fan by nature - I gravitate towards the 'Dark Side.' This is the Skywalker of IPAs. Bringing the malty darkness akin to a Sith Lord with the tremendous zest of a good Jedi IPA... OK - done with the StarWars analogies. A very good IPA for us stout fans.

First BA review in a few years! Dark ruby when held to the light with big sheets of thick lacing. Great aromas from this one, malty and dark roasted notes, slightly sweet and subtle vanilla. Soft on the pallet with a nice hop texture, finishing with a lasting dryness till the next sip. Very balanced BIPA, lending itself to the the hoppy side of the range. The strong ABV is controlled and not overpowering, but shows on the finish. I really like this offering from Stone and see it as one to judge others.

Eyes: A dense tan head collapsed and left a good amount of sticky lacing. Dark brown body… coffee coloured would best describe this body as it had a translucent brown glow around the edges of the glass.

Nose: The hops hit the nose hard: primarily floral with minor herbal traces. Very subtle presence of toasted malts… subtle may be too generous of a description here.

Taste: An explosion of floral and herbal hop flavours hit the tongue right off the bat. A weak backbone of toasted grains and coffee made up the malts. The brewers over at Stone nailed the balance here… just the right amount of warm, toasty malts to showcase a very fresh and heavy hop flavour. Medium-bodied. Moderate-heavy carbonation.

I really am not a fan of black IPA's but this is one of the best it seems. The appearance was nice being very dark brown and a tan head that lasts a bit. The smell is full of hops but not much else it would seem. The taste though was very different. Starting out with a lot of floral notes in the beginning gave way to a semi sweet malt finish that I found very refreshing. Would highly recommend.

Black body with reddish hints when held up against a light. Small tan colored head, well carbonated, and good lacing.

Faint sweetness on the nose.

Taste was very nice, sweet with only a very faint bitterness. Roasted malts come out at the end. (Similar pattern to Arrogant Bastard) Mouth was around medium.

I personally do not really understand Black Ales/IPA's, seems to me there are always much better options on either the IPA or stout side. This one seems to favor the stout side. Taste seem to improve as the ale warmed up toward room temperature. Overall, an enjoyable drink.

This has to be the best black IPA on the planet. Great dark appearance! The smell of roasted malts is phenomenal. Characteristically over hopped like many Stone beers but the Taste is a perfect blend of malt and hops. This could be my favorite Stone beer, and they have a lot of great ones!

A: Looks nearly opaque black underneath dim light, but some garnet hues make themselves known when held up to the evening sun. A large, frothy khaki head takes ages to deflate, and retains wonderfully and leaves large splotches of lacing down the glass.

S: Heavy hop aromas, with some grapefruit leading the way, as well as some herbal undertones. Roasted malts are weak, but come through offering some hints of bitter cocoa and black coffee. Definitely closer to an IPA aroma than anything dark.

T: Reminds me very much of Stone's IPA. Lots of citrusy flavor here: bits of grapefruit and orange. Balanced wonderfully by some darkly roasted malts. The bitterness from the hops is perfectly meshed with the bitterness from the roasted malts and black coffee profiles. Reminds me of a hybrid of Stone IPA and a good stout.

M: Medium body, nearing full, but not quite. Definitely on the heavy side from the malt presence, but remains quaffable enough to put this back with ease.

O: Do you ever find yourself getting mad at just how good Stone is at making beer? Because that was my emotion while drinking this. I'm waiting for the day when I find a bad Stone brew, but that day is not today. SSR Black IPA is just another example of why Stone remains one of the big names in the game. This beer is sure to please hopheads and stout drinkers alike, and provides a unique flavor profile that is sure to please anyone into unique brews.

T - A resin bomb for sure. Sticky hop flavors including pine, hemp, and grapefruit bombard the palate. The malt have tones of raisins and toast. The finish is all piney bitterness and a whiff of smoke.

M - The hop oils almost give the beer a bit of a sticky mouthfeel. The body is a bit hefty and the carbonation is fairly mild.

O - Very good black IPA. A lot more dank, piney flavors than most in the style, but the high ABV and smokey malt flavors make it work.

Let me just say that I was a little wary when I purchased this beer. I'm not very partial to black IPA's, as I've had bad experiences with them. Actually, I purchased this beer as part of a four-pack that had three other stone beers I absolutely love. Here goes:

A: Very good. Pours thick and pitch-black. Given the alcohol content and presence of roasted malt, this isn't surprising. I do take a little issue with the size of the head, but the lacing was rather good (good protein content).

S: Again, very good. Roasted malt predominated by cascade and chinook hops. Slightly imbalanced, as the hops predominate, but good nonetheless.

T: WOW. Simply brilliant. A great interplay between the hops and the malt. The first taste one gets is the deep, dark-roasted chocolate malt. Chocolate and coffee predominate. Then, the malt is taken over by the hops, which impart flavors of grapefruit, lemon and pine. After swallowing, the taste of the burnt malt lingers in the back of the throat. Delicious.

M: Gorgeous. Nice and thick. It glides down the throat creamily.

O: A great beer. It has restored my faith in black IPA's. A great balance between malt and hops. Nearly perfect.

This brew pours black with a one finger mocha head and moderate to heavy lacing on the glass; mild carbonation.

The smell is heavy with floral hops, no real subtlety, just strong hops along with a roasted malt and burnt coffee backbone. There is also a pungent smell as well.

The tastes follows the nose with hops, then burnt coffee and roasted malts going back to hops. Not bad but not great considering all of the usual bragging that Stone does on their bottle.

The mouthfeel is thin and creamy, which might be strange for an IPA but that is how it feels. Some hop oil is left on the tongue after swallowing.

Overall this is not a bad IPA but not great. Stone over-hypes themselves by doing their usual bragging on the side of the bottle but this brew does not live up to the hype. Strong hops with no subtlety, roasted malts and burnt coffee. I would still say give it a try; I know that Stone is a popular brewery and you just might like this offering more than I.